By Marcus Nkire
For a long time in Nigeria, there has been this conception by a growing population of Nigerians that True Federalism has eluded us. Power has been maintained solely at the federal level instead of being sufficiently appriopriated to other levels of government.
The activities and modus operandum of the state is initiated at the nations capital (ABUJA). This is why political actors and citizens alike have been agitating for the devolution of powers and revisiting of the constitution. When the bill seeking devolution of powers was first introduced, it was disregarded at the first reading but now, the growing polarity created by the clamour for restructuring has led most to believe that it is only a matter of time before the bill is reconsidered.
The call for restructuring has been further exascerbated by the massive unrest that gripped the entire nation this year. People of the South East have explicitly proclaimed their unequivocal feeling of marginalisation towards them. A separatist section of the South East, the Idegineous People Of Biafra (IPOB) had even threatened to break out of the country, citing extreme marginalisation. IPOB insisted there must be a referendum or nothing, shunning all invitations to peaceful negotiations. They rather took to demonstrations as a tool to call the attention of people and government. Although, in recent times the demonstrations in the south east seem to have reduced to the barest minimum due to the military intervention in that geographical region. Push came to a shove when a Northern Group known as Arewa Youths issued a quit notice to all Igbos to vacate the northern region before the 1st of October 2017. This followed a series of insults and abuses heapped on northerners by the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, alleging that the people of Northern Nigeria were responsible for the woes of the Igbos.
From the South West also came agitations, including that of an Oduduwa Republic to ameliorate the sufferings of the Yoruba people in present day Nigeria.
Some schools of thought still see the urgent passing of the devolution of power bill as the quickest solution to the numerous agitations for restructuring all over the country. Eye brows are still being raised about the senate failure in the first place, to pass the bill into law. However, the Deputy Senate president Sen.Ike Ekweremadu while adressing Governors in a meeting with the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) gave the masses a glimmer of hope by insisting that the Devolution of power bill could be revisited if concensus is built around it. He consolidated his stance on remising the bill by stating that the conjested power at the centre condones the struggle for federal power and creates a toxic atmosphere for true Federalism to thrive on. Restructuring on the flipside is far from rosy and scintillating. If or when power is decentralised, Nigerians are likely to face an unprecedented challenge and therefore have to show resolute survival and innovative skills in other to adapt. This procedure will no doubt pose a robust challenge to those states that are dependent on the federal government’s annual budget allocation to function adequately.
The viability of each and every state in the country is paramout to the successful transitioning of states into an indepenent autonomous unit .Every state must posses a steady source of revenue. this money generated would help stabilise the government and set the ball rolling for the institutionalisation of other economic sectors in the state.
The most dreaded scenario in restructuring Nigeria is the risk of what i call the “Power Drama”. According to lord John Acton an english politician,”Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” This further enhances the need to approach the contention constructively and meticulously. judging from our blemished track record one would be forgiven to question the moral inclination of our officials at the state and local levels to resist abusing those powers. It could be that we are heading into a whole new world of doom and gloom by endorsing restructuring . on the other hand, it could may well be that this is our golden opportunity to finally accertain a state of nirvana and kickstart a misssion to make this great nation a force to reckon with. Nevertheless, the need for a new directive in our policy making cannot be understated . The policy that allows the Federal government to be in charge of designated amount of roads in every state in the country is out dated to say the least. the federal government have enough on their plate already and should therefore allow the state to handle state business. Most of these roads are depended upon by innocent citizens for safe travels. As a result, the Federal government cannot afford to be complacent in adressing issues regarding the safety of her citizens.
The tendency to get carried away by infatuations about the idea of restructuring is prexisting in its own right . however, facts and figures have proved that we need to tweak our system, forgo some responsibilities to the state and local respectively and most importantly enforce the rule of law stringently.